[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vtl_15_1971.jpg]][[caption-width-right:300:How kind of you to write her an article.]]

Audrey Hepburn, born Audrey Kathleen Ruston (May 4, 1929 -- January 20, 1993), was one of the most beautiful and elegant actresses in cinema history. She never seemed to ''try'' to be iconic; it just came naturally. From wearing scarves, to nun's habits, to SugarWiki/TheLittleBlackDress, hers was an unforgettable image.

Look up the word "classy" in the dictionary, and a picture of her will be staring back at you.

Even in her later years, [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave she was still a looker]], appearing in [[PrettyInMink Blackglama's]] [[AdvertisingCampaigns "What Becomes A Legend Most?"]] ad [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/audrey_hepburn_blackglama.jpg campaign]], although she spent most of her later years doing philanthropic work with UNICEF.

A British citizen, she was born in Brussels, Belgium to a Dutch Baroness and an Anglo-Irish ne'er-do-well. Her father [[DisappearedDad walking out]] on the family when she was young and her subsequent adolescence in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo German-occupied]] [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Holland]] made her something of a [[TheWoobie woobie]] in her childhood.

No, she's not related to Creator/KatharineHepburn.----!Her films include:* ''Film/TheLavenderHillMob'' (1951): Crime caper comedy in which she has a bit part.* ''Film/RomanHoliday'' (1953) - A RebelliousPrincess meets an IntrepidReporter in the middle of the Eternal City. This role is her UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winning StarMakingRole, and her personal favourite. GregoryPeck [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome insisted she be given equal billing with him, and correctly predicted she would win the Oscar]].* ''Film/{{Sabrina}}'' (1954) - Nominated for an Oscar.* ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' (1956)* ''Film/FunnyFace'' (1957) - Her first musical, co-starring Creator/FredAstaire. The definitive "Audrey Hepburn looking awesome in all sorts of costumes" film.* ''Film/LoveInTheAfternoon'' (1957)* ''Film/TheNunsStory'' (1959) - Some of Hepburn's best acting work. Nominated for an Oscar.* ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'' (1961) - Her most iconic role. Nominated for an Oscar.* ''Theatre/TheChildrensHour'' (1961)* ''Film/{{Charade}}'' (1963)* ''Film/MyFairLady'' (1964) - Starts out PlayingAgainstType, being an uncultured street woman who gradually is groomed to become the classy lady we all know and love. Infamously, her singing scenes were dubbed by Marni Nixon. Two songs with her original vocals are available on the DVD.* ''Film/HowToStealAMillion'' (1966)* ''Film/TwoForTheRoad'' (1967) - PlayingAgainstType as a bitchy housewife.* ''Theatre/WaitUntilDark'' - (1967) - One of the first modern thrillers, with Hepburn as a blind woman threatened by heroin smugglers. The studio had a lot of trouble casting the main villain, as few actors wanted to be seen tormenting a blind Audrey. Nominated for an Oscar.* ''[[RobinHood Robin and Marian]]'' (1976) - Playing an aging Maid Marian opposite Creator/SeanConnery.* ''Film/{{Always}}'' (1989) - Her last role. [[note]]Playing an angel, appropriately enough.[[/note]]

!This actress/model provides examples of:* CunningLinguist: She was bilingual since childhood because of her Dutch and British heritage, but was also fluent in French, Spanish and Italian. * FiftiesHair: She wore a ponytail at the start of her career, then cropped it into a pixie cut, then grew it again into a BeehiveHairdo in TheSixties.* FriendToAllChildren: In the later years of her life, her great passion was her work for UNICEF, on whose behalf she travelled to some of the most dangerous, desperately poor corners of the world - including, just a few months before her death when she was already critically ill, to famine- and civil war-torn Somalia.* HollywoodThin: Along with the LittleBlackDress example below, Hepburn's physique has long been considered an ideal standard of beauty and grace. She was 5'7" and 110-115lbs, giving her a BMI of 17-18, which is considered underweight. She suffered from long periods of starvation during the Nazis' occupation of the Netherlands, and this damaged her metabolism, causing life-long health problems and contributing to her relatively early death, at age 63. * IAmNotPretty: Hard to believe about a woman commonly thought of one of the most beautiful to ever grace the planet with her presence, but she felt this way. To be fair, her boyish, gamine figure and reserved persona were something of a rarity in her day when big hair, big chests, and overly-glamorous sex symbols represented the ideal woman at the time.-->''"You can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly ... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."''* ImpoverishedPatrician: Audrey's titled Dutch-Belgian family lost most of their worldly goods to Nazi confiscation during World War II, so that she and her mother lived in very straitened circumstances during the immediate postwar years (a major impetus behind her first training as a professional ballerina, then becoming an actress). Moreover, she experienced severe malnutrition during the horrific Dutch famine of 1944-45, whose consequences affected her health for the rest of her life.* LaResistance: During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Audrey (and her mother) worked extensively with the Dutch Resistance. Audrey raised funds for the Resistance with clandestine ballet performances and couriered confidential documents on several occasions - both activities which would have condemned her to execution had she been caught by the Germans. Several of her relatives were in fact executed by the Nazis for Resistance activities.* LittleBlackDress: She didn't invent it, but let's face it: her face is the one that immediately comes to mind whenever one hears the phrase. She's not the page image for nothing, after all.

!Homages to Audrey Hepburn* In the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries, both [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Relena Peacecraft/Darlian]] and her {{Expy}}, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Lacus]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Clyne]], were modeled after Hepburn. And now ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' has Audrey Burne. [[CargoShip Gundam really loves her.]]* Both ''Wing'' and ''Unicorn'' made homages to ''Roman Holiday'': in ''Wing'', one of Relena's dresses was designed after Princess Ann's dress, and in ''Unicorn'', the "Runaway Princess" movie poster is a copy of the movie poster for "Roman Holiday".* In the manga and anime series, ''Rec'', Aka Onda, the lead female character, idolizes Hepburn, and would quote Hepburn's lines from the movies she appeared in. In the opening, Aka is wearing some of Hepburn's famous clothing.* Episode 146 of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' is a homage to ''Film/RomanHoliday'', with one-shot character Princess Rubina as a stand-in for Princess Ann.* Lina's character design in ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}}'' is supposedly based on Hepburn.* In Disney's ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', Aurora's design is partially based on Hepburn.** More specifically Hepburn's willowy ballerina body. Originally Aurora/Briar Rose's face was also based on Hepburn's but redesigned later on.* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', the title character's design is based on both Meg Ryan and Hepburn.* Jenna from ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' was based on Hepburn. * ''Film/YouMeAndDupree''. Audrey is Dupree's ideal woman, much to Molly's surprise.* Audrey is one of the actresses on whom Film/{{S1m0ne}} is based.* Adam Hughes' ''Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}'' cover work.* From ''Manga/ClampSchoolDetectives'', kindergartner Utako Okawa dons an outfit [[http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6929/audreyutako.jpg identical]] to the Royal Ascot dress worn by Hepburn in ''Film/MyFairLady''.* Azalyn in ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'' talks about being a fan of ''Film/RomanHoliday''* In ''Series/GossipGirl'', Blair Waldorf is a huge Audrey fan and would like her life to be like in ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys''.* According to the DVD commentary of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' (specifically "Suited For Success"), Rarity's voice is at least partially inspired by Audrey's.* Diantha from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' greatly resembles her, down to the hair, eyebrows and being an actress.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Asami Sato's overall appearance and role as a smart innovator with incredible beauty brings Audrey Hepburn and other Hollywood Golden Age actresses to mind.* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', there is a female pet trainer named Audrey ''Burnhep'' in Stormwind City. It has been speculated that the reason why Creator/BlizzardEntertainment chose this method to honour Hepburn was her being well-known for keeping a pet fawn (small deer, which is also an in-game pet).* Italian detective/thriller comic ''Julia'', published by Bonelli, has its eponymous character clearly modeled after Hepburn.----